Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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517. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the implications of a company's (details supplied) withdrawal from the rendering process of the national broadband plan for identified broadband black spots in County Louth. [5943/18]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland now have access to high speed broadband. Within a year that number will rise to nearly 8 out of 10 premises and by 2020 9 out of 10 premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection. This will be achieved through a combination of commercial investment and a State led intervention.

My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. That procurement process is now at an advanced stage.

One bidder, eir, publicly withdrew from the procurement process on 30 January. While this is regrettable, it is a commercial decision for eir to make. The specialist NBP procurement team will continue to engage intensively with all relevant stakeholders, including the enet/sse consortium, to ensure the earliest possible achievement of the Government’s objective of providing reliable high quality, high speed broadband to all premises in Ireland. When the procurement process reaches a satisfactory conclusion for Government, a contract will be awarded and the network rollout will commence.

Delivering high speed broadband to citizens across Ireland remains a firm commitment of mine and this Government.

In the interim, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services. This includes the identification and tackling of mobile phone and broadband coverage blackspots. The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and the Department of Rural and Community Development worked with a pilot group of local authorities, including Louth County Council, to identify the issues associated with mapping local Blackspots.

This pilot exercise is complete, with all local authorities, through their Broadband Officers, now being asked to map priority local Blackspots and identify infrastructure that could potentially be used to provide additional coverage on an economic basis.  

The next stage in this process will be for local authorities and the operators to meet at local level to discuss how best to tackle the Blackspots identified, and this process is expected to start in the next month.

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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518. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when households and businesses in County Louth can expect to have full access to broadband. [5945/18]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location.  The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland now have access to high speed broadband. Within a year that number will rise to nearly 8 out of 10 premises and by 2020 9 out of 10 premises or 90% of premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection.

In April 2017 I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie.  This map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (NBP).

The Map is colour coded and searchable by address/eircode:

- The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement process.

- The BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services.

- The LIGHT BLUE areas represent eir's commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises by the end of this year as part of a Commitment Agreement signed with me in April.

There are just over 60,000 premises in Louth.  Approximately 8,500 (14%) fall within the AMBER area and will be covered under the State led Intervention. Just over 49,000 (82%) of premises are in a BLUE area and are or will be covered by commercial providers, while approximately 2,500 (4%) are LIGHT BLUE and fall to be covered by eir's planned rural deployment.

In April 2017, I signed a Commitment Agreement with eir in relation to its plans to provide High speed broadband to 300,000 premises in rural areas on a commercial basis. eir has committed to completing the rollout by the end of this year. Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available at . A copy of the Commitment Agreement is available on my Department’s website www.dccae.gov.ie

Quarterly updates on eir's rural deployment are published on this website. Although deployment figures for Q4 2017 have not yet been verified by my Department’s teams, I understand eir has passed a total of 121,000 premises to date.

My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. One bidder, eir, publicly withdrew from the procurement process on 30 January. While this is regrettable, it is a commercial decision for eir to make. The specialist NBP procurement team will continue to engage intensively with all relevant stakeholders, including the enet/sse consortium, to ensure the earliest possible achievement of the Government’s objective of providing reliable high quality, high speed broadband to all premises in Ireland. When the procurement process reaches a satisfactory conclusion for Government, a contract will be awarded and the network rollout will commence.

Delivering high speed broadband to citizens across Ireland remains a firm commitment of mine and this Government.

In the interim, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.

Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen.  These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities.  The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure.  There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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519. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment when Castletown Geoghan, County Westmeath, will have broadband availability at reasonable speeds made available to persons and businesses in the area under the national broadband plan or a company's (details supplied) broadband plan for rural areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5969/18]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland now have access to high speed broadband. Within a year that number will rise to nearly 8 out of 10 premises and by 2020 9 out of 10 premises or 90% of premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection.

In April 2017 I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie.  This map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (NBP).

The Map is colour coded and searchable by address/eircode:

- The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement process.

- The BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services.

- The LIGHT BLUE areas represent eir's commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises by the end of this year as part of a Commitment Agreement signed with me in April.

There are 153 premises in Castletown (Castletown Geoghegan). 13 (8%) fall within the AMBER area and will be covered under the State led Intervention while 140 (92%) are LIGHT BLUE and fall to be covered by eir's planned rural deployment.

In April 2017, I signed a Commitment Agreement with eir in relation to its plans to provide High speed broadband to 300,000 premises in rural areas on a commercial basis. eir has committed to completing the rollout by the end of this year.  Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available at . A copy of the Commitment Agreement is available on my Department’s website www.dccae.gov.ie.

Quarterly updates on eir's rural deployment are published on this website. Although deployment figures for Q4 2017 have not yet been verified by my Department’s teams, I understand eir has passed a total of 121,000 premises to date.

My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. One company, eir, publicly withdrew from the procurement process on 30 January. While this is regrettable, it is a commercial decision for eir to make.  The specialist NBP procurement team will continue to engage intensively with all relevant stakeholders, including the enet/sse consortium, to ensure the earliest possible achievement of the Government’s objective of providing reliable high quality, high speed broadband to all premises in Ireland. When the procurement process reaches a satisfactory conclusion for Government, a contract will be awarded and the network rollout will commence.

Delivering high speed broadband to citizens across Ireland remains a firm commitment of mine and this Government.

In the interim, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.

Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen.  These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities.  The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure.  There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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520. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the status of the roll-out of broadband in County Kildare, specifically in the light blue areas of the broadband map; the timeframe for these properties to be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5980/18]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Government's National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to ensure high speed broadband access (minimum 30 megabits per second) to all premises in Ireland, regardless of location.  The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector. 7 out of 10 of the 2.3 million premises in Ireland now have access to high speed broadband. Within a year that number will rise to nearly 8 out of 10 premises and by 2020 9 out of 10 premises or 90% of premises will have access to a high speed broadband connection.

In April 2017 I published an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. This map shows the areas targeted by commercial operators to provide high speed broadband services and the areas that will be included in the State Intervention Area under the National Broadband Plan (NBP).

The Map is colour coded and searchable by address/eircode:

- The AMBER areas represent the target areas for the proposed State led Intervention under the NBP and are the subject of an ongoing procurement process.

- The BLUE represent those areas where commercial providers are either currently delivering or have plans to deliver high speed broadband services.

- The LIGHT BLUE areas represent eir's commercial rural deployment plans to rollout high speed broadband to 300,000 premises by the end of this year as part of a Commitment Agreement signed with me in April.

There are over 90,500 premises in Kildare.  Approximately 13,000 (15%) fall within the AMBER area and will be covered under the State led Intervention. Nearly 73,000 (80%) of premises are in a BLUE area and are or will be covered by commercial providers, while just under 4,500 (5%) are LIGHT BLUE and fall to be covered by eir's planned rural deployment.

In April 2017, I signed a Commitment Agreement with eir in relation to its plans to provide High speed broadband to 300,000 premises in rural areas on a commercial basis. eir has committed to completing the rollout by the end of this year.  Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available at . A copy of the Commitment Agreement is available on my Department’s website www.dccae.gov.ie.

Quarterly updates on eir's rural deployment are published on this website. Although deployment figures for Q4 2017 have not yet been verified by my Department’s teams, I understand eir has passed a total of 121,000 premises to date.

My Department is in a formal procurement process to select a company who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network in the State intervention area. One company, eir, publicly withdrew from the procurement process on 30 January. While this is regrettable, it is a commercial decision for eir to make.  The specialist NBP procurement team will continue to engage intensively with all relevant stakeholders, including the enet/sse consortium, to ensure the earliest possible achievement of the Government’s objective of providing reliable high quality, high speed broadband to all premises in Ireland. When the procurement process reaches a satisfactory conclusion for Government, a contract will be awarded and the network rollout will commence.

Delivering high speed broadband to citizens across Ireland remains a firm commitment of mine and this Government.

In the interim, practical initiatives will continue to be addressed through the work of the Mobile Phone and Broadband Taskforce to address obstacles and improve connectivity in respect of existing and future mobile phone and broadband services.

Under this Taskforce, engagement between telecommunications operators and local authorities through the Broadband Officers is continuing to strengthen.  These Broadband Officers are acting as single points of contact in local authorities for their communities.  The appointment of these officers is already reaping rewards in terms of ensuring a much greater degree of consistency in engagements with operators and clearing obstacles to developing infrastructure.  There is a link to a list of these local Broadband Officers on my Department's website.